Sheet-feeding method and machine



Jan. 16,1945.

L. l. MATTHEWS SHEET-FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE K Jan. 16, 1945.

L.. L. MATTHEWS SHEET-FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Filed Aug. 4. 1940 8 Sheets-Sheet 2 ggg.

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Jam H6, 1945. L. L. MATTHEWS SHET-FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE s sheets-sheet 3 Filed Aug. 4, 1940 Jan. 16, 1945. L. MATTHEWS SHEET-FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1940 8 Sheets-Sheet 4 Jap. 16, 1945.

SHBET-FEEDING HETHOD AND MACHINE 'A l, l. MATTHEWS -2,367,416

8 Sheets-Sheet 5 .Filed Aug.l 4, 1940 Jan. 16, 1945. MATTHEWS 2,367,416

SHEET-FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Filed Aug. 4; 1940 8 Sheets-Sheet 6 3m46.194s. L. L MATTHEWSl 2,367,416

SHEET--FEEDING METHOD AND MACHINE Filed Aug. 4, 1940 .8 sheets-sheet 7 W457i? f Jan. E6, 1945. l. l.. MATTHEWS FEDING METHOD AND MACHINE SHEET- s sheets-sheet 8 Filed Aug. 4, 1940 /A/Vf/vraR @new Patented Jan. 16, 1945 SHEET-resumo METHOD AND MACHINE Louis Landaif Matthews, Westerly, R. I.. assignor to Maxson Automatic Machinery Company, Westerly, It. l.. a. corporation of Rhode Island Application August 4, 1 940, Seria-l No. 351,348

19 Claims.

The present invention relates to methods of and machines for feeding sheet material, and more particularly to the sorting ofy the sheets during the feeding.

In Letters Patent of the United States 1,942,870, issued January 9, 1934, there is disclosed a sorting machine with the aid of which it is possible to inspect a web as it is unrolled from a roll of paper or the like, prior to the cutting of the web into sheets, and to reject such of the sheets as inspection may show to be defective. The inspection of the traveling web is tiring on the eyes of the operator.

An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a new and improved method and machine that shall relieve the operators eyestrain.

With this end in view, a feature of the invention resides in stopping the travel of the topmost sheet of an underlapped pile of sheets, each for a brief interval, to permit inspection of the said topmost sheet at a time when it is stationary.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel method and machine for rejecting the topmost sheet of the underlapped pile, .if inspection thereof, when stopped, shows it to be below standard.

Other and further objects will be explained hereinafter and will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic viewy partly in side elevation and partly in section, and with parts broken away, other parts displaced, and still other parts omitted, for clearness, of a papercutting-and-feeding machine embodying the present invention, according to which the topmost sheet of an underlapped pile is stopped for inspection purposes; Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan; Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 of a modification; Fig. 4 is a similar view illustrating parts of the machine omitted from Fig. 1, for clearness; Fig. 5 is a similar view of a machine for feeding and sorting previously cut sheets; Fig. 6 is a smilar view, showing various parts in relations different from the relations shown in other figures; Fig. '7 is a similar view of a portion of the machine omitted from Fig. 5, because of lack of space on the drawings; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged view of the lay-boy end of the machine; Fig. 9 is a corresponding plan; Fig. 10 is a fragmentary plan corresponding to Fig. 2, but upon a larger scale; and Figs.

11 and 12 are views corresponding, respectively, to Figs. 18 and 19 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870.

Figs. 1 to 4 illustrate a paper-sheet-,cuttingand-feeding machine of well-known type, such as is commonly employed in paper mills. A web 3 is led from a roll 2 of paper to feed rolls I0, by which the paper is advanced to a rotary cutter I6, mounted upon a shaft I1, and a cooperating stationary bed-knii'e cutter I5, by which the web is cut into sheets 56 of the desired length. The length of the sheets is determined by the relative adjustment of the speed of the feed rolls I0 and the speed of the cutter I6. As illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7, however, the invention is applicable also to use with sheets previously cut and collected in a stack I2.

After the sheets 56 are thus severed, they are led, at a downward incline, by gravity, toward upper and lower feed rolls 34 and |31 that extend transversely of the machine, respectively above and below, and in engagement with, a series of belts or tapes 6. The roll 34 is shown positioned slightly to the left of the roll |31 to provide a space in which the rolls 34 and |31 and the tapes 6 may bite the heads 62 of the oncoming sheets. The belts or tapes 6 are disposed approximately horizontal, substantally parallel to the bed knife I5, at a level belowl the level at which the web is fed between the rolls I0. The head 62 of each sheet 56 passes under the roll 34 and over the roll |31 and between these rolls and the tapes 6 by which it is fed further forward toward a lay-boy 4. The tapes 6, driven at relatively high speed, feed the sheets 56, as they come from the cutter, at a speed approximately ten percent greater than the speed of the web 3, as determined by the feed rolls III. The belts or tapes 6 are mounted around rolls I, 1 and 8. The head 62 of each sheet becomes gripped by the rolls 34 and |31 and the tapes 6 to pull the sheet taut and away from the nextfollowing sheet, in order to separate the sheets from the cutter and from one another.

Rolls I 0| and |02, respectively above and below the upper reaches of the tapes 6, then grip the heads of the sheets to feed the sheets away from the tapes 6, at still greater increased speed, under the tapes I9, and over a bridge |03. The tapes I9 are mounted over rolls 9, 2| and 22, so that their lower reaches extend at a slight downward incline, toward the roll 2|.

The roll |02 is shown extending transversely, throughout the width of the machine. The rolls IIJI` however, are shown as constituted of two -fore, they carry the sheet between the tapes I9 and the bridge |03, at high speed, straight forward, but at the said slight downward incline. toward lower tapes 20, shown mounted over-rolls I3 and I4.' The portions of the tapes I9 between the rolls 2| and 22 then cooperate with the lower tapes 20 to feed the sheets further singly into the lay-boy 4, in which the sheets become stacked. A stop 25 acts upon the forward ends or heads of the sheets to limit their further forward movement. 'I'he sheets may be jogged in the lay-boy 4 in the usual manner, so that the sheets become stacked or piled in the lay-boy evenly. A preferred jogging mechanism, illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, is described more fully hereinafter.

The rolls and |02 and the tapes |9 and 20' are driven by well-known mechanism (not shown) at relatively high speed, say, twice the speed of the feed rolls I0 that drive the web 9. The speed of the sheets. as they enter the layboy 4, therefore, may be so high as to tend to buckle the sheets in the lay-boy in a manner that might prevent proper stacking. The portions of the tapes |9 between the rolls 2| and 22 on one side of the sheets 55 and the tapes 20 on the other side restrain the sheets from buckling while traveling at this high speed, but in' the lay-boy, there is no such restraining influence.

In order to prevent the sheets from buckling and flying about in the lay-boy 4, the tail of each sheet, after its head has entered the layboy, as described in Letters Patent 1,752,648, issued April 1, 1930, is engaged by a cam 61 to slow down the speed of travel of the sheet. As shown more clearly in Fig. 2, the cam 61 may be constituted of two relatively thin slightly separated cams positioned, like the wheels |0|, near the center of the sheet, one on each side of the said center. The cams 61 are mounted upon the shaft 69 of the roll 22 so as to engage a, roll 1| extending transversely of the machine, like the roll |02, once corresponding to each revolution of the shaft 69. The shaft 59 is driven in timed relation to the cutter I6 by means of a sprocket chain mounted over a sprocket .wheel 8| on the shaft 69 and also over a sprocket wheel 14 on a shaft 63. The shaft 63 is driven from the knife shaft I1 by mechanism hereinafter to be described. The drive of the shaft 69 from the knife shaft does not interfere with the separate drive of the tapes I9; such interference is prevented by mounting the rolls 22 loosely on the shaft 69.

As described in the said Letters Patent 1,752,648, issued April 1, 1930, the cam 51 is thus so timed as to rotate, in the direction of the arrow, to cause the tail 23 of each sheet to become engaged between the cam 51 and the roll 1| before the sheet has completely entered the lay-boy 4, thereby to slow down the sheet and prevent it buckling and flying about in the layboy. The high speed at which each sheet is fed forward into the lay-boy by the tapes I9 and 20 becomes thereby reduced, as the tail of the sheet enters the lay-boy, thus permitting each sheet to become properly deposited in the lay-boy before the head of the next-following sheet enters the lay-boy. The roll 1| may be an idler or. preferably, it may be positively driven, to aid in feeding the sheets l5 into the lay-boy 4. In this manner, the sheets may be advanced to, and stacked evenly in, the lay-boy, without curling or other defects incident to high speed. though the sheets are, in reality, advanced singly into the lay-boy by the tapes 9 and 20 at quite a high speed.

Before the sheet 59 is permitted to enter the lay-boy, however, it must pass satisfactory inspection by an operator, positioned nearby. as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l. In order to reduce the strain on the operator's eyes. and to make it easier for him to detect flaws in the sheet, the sheet is brought to a full stop for a brief interval of time.

To stop the travel of the sheet 55, its head 92 is caused to engage a series of stop fingers |4| that normally, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, project above the tapes 5, in the spaces between adjacently disposed tapes. Upon the head 52 of each sheet engaging the stops IBI, the sheet is brought to rest upon the tapes 5, permitting inspection of each sheet by the operator at a time when such sheet is stationary. The stop fingers |6| are positioned to the left of the rolls |0| and |02, so that the sheets 5B are stopped on the tapes 5 before they have yet been permitted to reach the rolls |0| and |02.

The stops |5| become automatically lowered periodically, at intervals, from the position illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, to the position illustrated in Fig. 6, below the tapes 5. This automatic lowering of the stops |5| is effected in timed relation to the operation of the other elements of the machine by means of a rotary cam |59 that is directly driven from the cutter shaft II by a sprocket chain |59 mounted over a sprocket wheel ||3 upon the shaft and a sprocket wheel that is fixed to the shaft |52 of the cam |59. 'I'he cam |59 is thus caused to rotate through a complete revolution once corresponding to each revolution of the cutter shaft Il, The stops |5| will thus become actuated from the effective position of Figs. 1 to 5, to the ineffective position of Fig. 6, and back to the effective position, once during each revolution of the cutter shaft thus to stop once, for inspection purposes, each sheet 55, during its travel toward the lay-boy 4.

The periphery of the cam |59 is circular, except for a slight dwell or cam notch |55. The stops |5| each constitutes one of the arms of a bell-cranklever the other arm 25| of which is provided with a roll 259 that is normally held in engagement with the circular portion of the periphery of the cam |59. Once during each revolution of the cam |59, the roll 253 becomes forced into the cam notch by a spring |51, as illustrated in Fig. 6. It is during this brief interval, when the roll 259 occupies the notch |55, that the stops |5| assume their ineffective position, illustrated in Fig. 6. The next moment, the portion 21 of the cam |59, as the cam continues its rotation in' the direction of the arrow, forces the m11 m out of the cam notch m, m opposition to the action of the spring |51, on to the circular periphery of the cam |59, forcing the stops |5| into their effective position, illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5.

The operation of the knife l5, the stops |5| and the cam 51 and also, therefore, of ihe feeding means, is thus synchronized to effect actuation vof the stops |6| periodically into and out of the path of feed of the sheet after lleaving the cutter I6, and to eilect engagement oi' the tail of the sheet just before it enters the lay-boy 4 During the brief interval of time during which the stops |5| occupy their ineffective position, illustrated in Fig. 6, below the tapes 5, the tapes 8 become enabled to continue their feeding of the sheet 56 beyond the stops |6I, and toward the rolls ||l| and |02, the tapes |9 and 20, and the lay-boy 4. the operation of the knife I1 and the cam |59, the sheet remains stationary on theI tapes 5. As the notch |65 occupies but a very small portion of the periphery of the cam |65, each sheet remains stationary on the tapes 6, for the operator to in- During the remainder of the cycle ofV spect, during substantially the complete duration of a. knife revolution. Defects in the sheet become thus more easily detected and eyestrain is greatly relieved.

It is only when inspection of the stationary sheet 56 shows it not to be defective that the operator permits it to be fed forward toward the tapes I9 and 20 and the lay-boy 4. If the inspected sheet 56 turns out to be defective, the operator will deflect it out of its path of travel toward the lay-boy 4. This he does by pulling upon a rod 29, toward the left, causing it to slide in bearings 3|, and resulting in a corresponding pull upon a chain 33. A catch 35 is thus actuated toward the left, about a pivot 31, from its normal effective position, illustrated in Fig. 6, to its ineffective position, illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5. In its ineffective position, the catch 35 releases a cooperating lug 4| that is mounted rigidly, so as to move, with a, switch 43. This switch 43 may be constituted, as illustrated in Fig. 2, of a number of spaced switch ngers, alined transversely of the machine and t0 the line of feed. The switch fingers and the lug 4| are shown fixedly mounted upon, or integral with, a rod 45, so as to be capable of pivoting with the rod in bearings 40. The release of the lug 4| by the catch 35 permits a spring 41, secured to the tail thereof, on the other side of the pivotal rod 45, to actuate the switch 43, about the pivotal rod 45, from its normal ineffective position, illustrated in Fig. 6, to the effective position of Figs. 1 to 5.

In their normal, ineffective position, illustrated in Fig. 6, the switch fingers 43 are disposed below the lower reach of the tapes |9. The rolls |0| and |92 may then carry the sheets 56, after traveling beyond the stops |6|, over the bridge |93, under the tapes |9, and to the tapes and the lay-boy 4, as before described.

The bridge |03 may be constituted of a number of bridge fingers, one integral with each switch finger 43. When in their effective position, however, the switch fingers 43 become positioned in the spaces between adjacent tapes |9, as illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, stripping the sheet from these tapes |9, and deflecting it on to a guide 49. The guide 49 may be constituted of guide fingers, one integral with each switch nger 43 and bridge |03. These guide fingers will guide the sheet, -so as to deliver it to an auxiliary defective-sheet layboy ii, shown in Fig. 1.

After the operator lets go his hold upon the rod 29, the switch 43 will become automatically restored to its normal position by mechanism described more at length in the said Letters Patent 1,942,870. This mechanism is illustrated as comprising an arm extension 53 xedly mounted upon the pivotal rod 45, and provided with a roll 55 that normally, when the catch 35 is effective. occupies the normal position, illustrated in Fig. 6. In this normal position, corresponding to the position shown in Fig. 14 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870. the roll 55 rests upon the high point of a cam roll 59.

Upon the release of the catch 35, the action of the spring 41, in pivoting the lug 4| upward, from the position of Fig. 6 to that of Figs. 1 to 5. causes the extension 53 to become pivoted downward. thus forcing the roll 55 also downward. The roll 55 will then be permitted to enter a cam-opening part 51 of an interior cam groove 6I that extends around the center of the cam roll 59. The cam-opening part 51 is provided upon the periphery of the cam roll 59, commencing at a point adjacent to the high point of the cam roll 59, and from there on communicating with the remaining portion of the interior cam 6i. Once the roll 55 has entered the opening 51, therefore, it is confined by the interior cam 6| until after a complete revolution of the cam roll 59. The roll 55 is illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 as still confined by the interior cam 6|. Owing to the shape of the interior cam 6|, the roll 55 will'be positively forced to ride out of the cam 6|, and onto the periphery of the cam roll 59, at the end of a complete revolution of the cam roll 59, a spring-pressed latch 9| yielding about its pivotal point 93 to permit this. The lug 4| is thus caused to return to its normal position, illustrated in Fig. 6.

If the operator has meanwhile let go' of the rod 29, a spring 39 has restored the catch 35 to its normal position, illustrated in Fig. 6. The catch 35 becomes thus enabled to reengage the lug 4|, preventing the roll 55 from again entering the cam opening 51 until after the rod 29 is again actuated.

The parts are so timed that the switch 43 shall open j ust before the defective sheet is released by the stops |6| and shall close again before the next sheet has reached these stops. The operator will manipulate the rod 29 once for each defective sheet that he sees deposited on the tapes 6. This he may do substantially at any time, for nothing normally interferes with his pulling upon the rod 29, to the left, to release the catch 35. If several sheets in succession are seen to be defective, the operator will maintain his hold upon the sliding rod 29, to cause the catch 35 to occupy continuously its ineffective position, and the switch 43 to be maintained continuously in its effective position, illustrated in Figs. l to 5, until all the successively following defective sheets have thus become side-tracked into the auxiliary lay-boy i I. Though the operator may manipulate the rod 29 at any time, however, the switch 43 can not be actuated into the path of travel of the defective sheet until after the lapse of a time interval, determined by the construction of the cam 59 and its gearing to the cutter |1, as presently to be described. The roll 55 can not enter the cam-opening part 51 until the cam 59 has been rotated to a suitable position, as is described in the said LettersPatent 1,942,870, and as is clear from the drawings.

The cam roll 59 is operated in timed relation with the other elements of the machine, as described, by driving it from the shaft |53 of the cam |59 which, as before explained, is driven directly from the cutter shaft I1. To this end, the shaft |63 of the cam |59 is provided with a further sprocket wheel 60. A sprocket chain 58,

As before explained. the-embodiment illustrated in Fig. 5 is adapted to'the feeding and sorting of previously cut'sheets 56. These may be fed,

`ln lapped relation, from beneath the stack |2, in any well-known manner, as, for example, by

the mechanism illustrated and described 'in Letters Patent 690,167 granted December 31, 1901 to Charles B. Maxson. In the beginning, the speed of travel of the sheets on the table 5 is comparatively low. The head 62 of the most advanced sheet reaches, in time, the bite between the tapes 6 and tapes 19 above the tapes 6. The tapes 19 are mounted over rolls 80 and 66, with the roll 8D above the roll so that the head 62 of the sheet is gripped therebetween. As soon as the head 62 of each sheet reaches the bite between these rolls and 80, these rolls increase the speed of travel of the sheets. At this increased speed, the sheets are fed by the tapes at so high a speed as to separate each sheet from under the stack |2 and advance it toward the rolls 34 and |31 singly. Each sheet 56 reaches the stops |6I, therefore, in the same condition as before described in connection with the feeding of the sheets from the cutter I6, permitting ready inspection thereof. The operation of the machine illustrated in Figs. 5 vand 7 subsequent to the inspection may be the same as before described.

During the period of time when any particular sheet 56 is held stationary by the stop fingers |6|, the next-following sheets successively cut by the cutter |6, of course, are still being fed forward along the same path toward the stops |6|, at the same relatively high speed of the tapes 6, past the point at which the roll |31 is positioned. Such next-following sheets must necessarily, therefore, lap the stationary sheet engaged by the stops |6|. An'overlapping delivery, however, would interfere with the inspection of the stationary sheet by the operator.

According to a feature of the present invention, therefore, provision is made for underlapping the next-following sheet or sheets under the stationary sheet. To this end, the tail 23 of the sheet 56. the head of which has been engaged by the stops |6| to stop the further travel of the sheet, is maintained slightly raised above the tapes 6. This permits interposing the head 62 of the next-following sheet under the said raised tail 23 of the stationary sheet, and between the said raised tail 23 and the tapes 6. By the time the head of the next-following sheet becomes stopped by the stops |6|, its tail 23 too will similarly become raised to permit the head of the directly next-following sheet to travel thereunder, in similar fashion. At each periodic interposition of the stops |6| in the path of travel of the sheets, therefore, not only is the head 62 of the sheet engaged by the stops, but the tail 23 thereof becomes raised by the rings 86. An underlapping delivery is thus provided that does not interfere with the inspection of the uppermost stationary sheet of the underlapping pile, when held stationary by the stops |6| on the tapes 6.

The preferred mechanism for raising the tail 23 of the stationary sheet, to permit of thisunderlapping delivery, comprises a plurality of rings assigne 36 that may be constituted of a phenol-composition or other suitable product, like Bakelite,

1mounted upon the roll |31 which may be conending with the tail 23 thereof.

stituted of steel tubing. As disclosed more fully in Letters Patent2,26l.973, issued November ll, 1941, the Bakelite rings 66 may extend all the way across the machine. close enough to one an other so that there shall be just sufficient room betweeneach two successively disposed rings 66 for the passage of a tape 6 between them. A plurality of rings of smaller diameter than the rings 86 are thus exposed on the roll |31 alternating with the rings 86 and each engaging one of the tapes 6.

The upperportions of the Bakelite rings 68, being raised above the level 0f the tape 6, successively raise the successive portions of each sheet 56, as it is fed thereover, slightly above the tapes 6. This raising is effected continuously, beginning with the head 62 of each sheet 56 and The head 6-2 of each sheet will become raised in this manner at a time when the tail 23 of the next-preceding sheet is still raised, and before the said nextpreceding sheet has been moved away toward the lay-boy 4. By positioning the roll |31 at a distance from the stops' |6| slightly less than, or even substantially equal to, the length of the sheets being fed, the tail 23 of each stationary sheet on the tapes 6 will become raised at the moment that its head 62 becomes engaged by the stops |6|, and will be maintained so raised until the stops |6| release the sheet. It is possible to adjust the position of the rolls 34 and |31 as a unit, to provide for different-length sheets, by any suitable mechanism, such asthat described in Letters Patent 1,545,910, issued July 14, 1925, to Charles B. Maxson, or in the said letters Patent 2,261,973.

Ordinarily, the above-described underlapping delivery may usually be brought about without any static-electricity diiculties caused by friction between the stationary sheet on the tapes 6 and the next-following sheet or sheets fed thereunder. This is because a film or layer of air usually forms between these sheets, resulting from the manner in which one sheet is fed under another. The formation of this air layer may, however, be further facilitated with the aid lof a very light blast of air at a point above the rings 86 of the roll |31 and below the tail 23 of the stationary sheet raised thereby. This air blast may be provided in any desired manner, as from a nozzle or nozzles 68, positioned over the roll 31, and perhaps slightly to the left thereof, so as to direct the blast between the tail 23 of one sheet and the head 62 of the next-following sheet.

Ordinarily, there will be but one sheet on the tapes 6 underneath the stationary sheet stopped by the stops |6|. Irrespective of the number of sheets 56, whether two or more than two, in the underlapped pile on the tapes 6, the feed of the topmost sheet of this pile willv remain stopped during nearly a complete revolution of the knife I6 and the .earn |59, as before explained, until the stops |6| become lowered to their ineffective position, during. the very brief period when the roll 263 enters the cam notch |65. The operator will be enabled to inspect the stationary sheet 64. therefore, throughout the period of time when the cutter I1 and the cam |69 perform this nearly complete revolution.

In order that the topmost sheet 56 of the underlapped pile may remain stationary for inspection purposes during so long a period, it is necessary that the sheet 66 previously disposed thereover be fed away from the cutters l5, I6 at a speed greater than the speed of travel of the web 3 to the cutters. If the sheets were fed singly, the increase in speed that would be required for this purpose would be considerable; perhaps as much as one hundred per cent. In

. the absence of such great increase in speed, it

would not be possible to hold the said topmost sheet 56 of the pile stopped on the tapes 6 for a period nearly so great as the time between successive knife cuts.

A sheet that would be fed forward at such relatively high speed toward the stops |6| could not safely be permitted to engage these stops head-on, as such head-on engagement would result in damaging the heads of the sheets, besides causing the sheets to re-bound and fly about, thus interfering with further smooth operation.

By underlapping the sheets, however, it is not necessary to feed the sheets away from the cutters at such high speed; a ten per cent increase, for example, as before stated, is quite sufficient.

The sheets may, therefore, be fed into engagementl with the stops I6| without any harmful effects whatever.

Sheets of even very light stock are accordingly very readily handled according to the present invention. The sheets are not damaged by engagement with the stops |6| because their heads engage these stops with very light contact. And the sheets can not buckle and ily about, because they are restrained from doing so by the tapes 6 beneath and the next-following sheets above them.

There is still another advantage attendant upon the underlapping delivery. Through feeding the sheets at such relatively high speed away from the cutters, the tail 23 of each sheet becomes considerably separated from the head 62 of the next-following sheet. If the sheets were fed singly, instead of being underlapped, they would arrive at the place where they are to be inspected, shooting, at high speed. Disregarding the fact that they would arrive with corners fiying up and down and side-wise, the operator would see a fast-moving object suddenly come to rest in front of her. She would undertake to scan it; but while she was attempting to do so, the sheet would suddenly start away quickly. Though her eyes had been focussed on the sheet that she was looking at, at a certain level, at the very next instant her focus would 'become destroyed by thedisappearance of the sheet. All that she would now be looking at, in front of her, would be a blank section of space, except for the presence of the tapes 6. The next moment, another sheet would cover those tapes, producing a change both of color and of content.

Experiences of this kind are very trying on the eyes, requiring that the operator take frequent rest intervals, during which the machine is idle.

The underlapping delivery of the present invention has fully solved all these difficulties. The operator is not required to look intermittently at a blank space into which sheets come flying at rapid, separated intervals of time. There are no sudden changes of -Vision presented to her eyes -by rapidly arriving and departing sheets, and there is no sudden change of focal distance for the eyes. 'I'he operator is always looking at the top sheet of the underlapping pile, at the same place, under the same conditions of focus, and

the color of this top sheet is continuously the lSa'lme.

Experience shows that not only do the operators feel no ill eff cts, lbut they Ibecome less tired than when sorting the sheets by hand from a stationary pile on a sorting table.

Whether the sheets be fed previously cut from the pile I2, as illustrated in Figs. 5 and 7, or whether they be cut in the machine from the web 3, the top sheet of the underlapped pile will be led off by the rolls |0| and |02, as before stated, toward the lay-boy 4, at greater speed, as soon as it lbecomes released by the stops |6|, thereby exposing to inspection the next-adjacent sheet of the pile directly under the said top sheet. If this topmost sheet is standard, it will be permitted, at the will of the operator, to continue its travel toward the right. and into the lay-boy 4; if this sheet isv defective, however, it Will be deflected by the operator in another direction, toward the lay-boy The lay-boy 4 is automatically lowered, from time to time, to maintain approximately uniform the level of the sheets that are stacked therein. VAs they are delivered into the lay-boy 4, the sheets are automatically counted, and thin indicating paper tags 24 are automatically inserted between adjacent predetermined sheets |04 and |06 at the top of the pile or stack in the lay-boy, at the completion of each count, to separate or mark the bundles or reams of sheets so delivered and counted.

The counting and tag-inserting `mechanism may be the same as is illustrated and described in the said Letters`Patent 1,942,870, and also in Letters Patent 1,611,476, granted December 2l, 1926, and 1,613,182, granted January 4, 1927, to the said Charles B. Maxson, to which reference may be made for details not fully disclosed herein. The tagging mechanism, as there described, comprises feed rolls 26 and 21 (Fig. 1) intermittently driven from a shaft 44 (Figs. 2, 4 and 10) through a train of gearing 28. The feed rolls 26 and 21 and the gearing 28 are shown in Fig, 1 only for purposes of clarity, and in order not to confuse the drawings by too much detail in any particular figure. The figures are not drawn to scale, and many parts are omitted therefrom and other parts distorted, also in the interest of clarity.

These feed rolls 26 and 2l automatically advance a lpaper strip 34 intermittently as it is unwound from a roll 36. The end 38 of the paper strip is thus, at the proper time, intermittently inserted by the feed rolls 26 and 2'| between the said two adjacent sheets |04 and |06 of the stack of sheets in the lay-boy 4 and, after it is severed by knives, constitutes a tag 24. The knives occupy positions indicated at 30 and 32, as more clearly illustrated in the said Letters Patent 1,613,182. The shaft 44 is continuously rotated, as described in the said Letters Patent, but does not become effective to actuate the feeding rolls 26 and 21 until at the end of each cycle of operation of the counter, after a full ream or other desired number of sheets has Ibeen delivered into the lay-boy 4.

This result is attained, as explained more fully in the said Letters Patent 1,942,870, and as i1- lustrated in Figs. l0 t0 12 herein, through the medium of a pawl 46 that is pivotally mounted at 52 upon a collar 54 that is pinned to the shaft 63 (as is clearly visible in Fig. 13 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870). The pawl 46, therefore, rotates continuously with the shaft 63,

and as the rotation of the latter is timed with the revolutions of the knife I8, the pawl 45 makes one revolution corresponding to each revolution of the knife I8. The number of revolutions of the pawl 48, therefore, is a measure of the number of sheets cut by the knife I8, and that would, under normal conditions, be delivered into the lay-boy 4. The' pawl 48 normally engages a lug 48 that is provided upon the hub or collar 58 of a sprocket wheel 85 that is loosely mounted upon the shaft 88 so as to rotate thereabout. In thus rotating in a circular path with the shaft 88, therefore, the pawl 48 normally carries the collar 58 and the sprocket wheel 85 with it about the axis of the shaft 88.

Though the sprocket 85 itself is loose, it is driven forward to turn the shaft 44 by means of a ratchet-andpawl mechanism, as illustrated in Figs. 9 to 13, 18 and 19 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870 and Figs. 10 to 12 herein.

A sprocket chain 84 (Figs. 2, 4 and 10) is mounted over the sprocket wheel 65 and also over a sprocket wheel 61 upon the shaft 44. As the rotation of the shaft 44 is, therefore, timed to the rotation of the rotary knife I5, because ,driven from the knife-driven shaft 68, it is a measure of the number of sheets that are cut by the knife I8' and that would normally be stacked in the layboy. By connecting the shaft 44 to a counting disk 81, then, it is possible to count the number of sheets cut by the knife I8. The details of the counter may be found described in the said Letters Patent 1,611,476. The hand-wheel mechanism shown more particularly in Fig. 13 of Letters Patent 1,862,797, issued June 14, 1932, to Matthews, may also be employed to provide simultaneous adjustment for the cutter shaft |1, the switch shaft 63, and the counter shaft 44.

Owing to the side-tracking of the defective sheets into the lay-boy the number of sheets separated by the tags 24 will be reduced accordingly, and it becomes necessary to correct the count for the number of defective sheets removed by the switch 43. The mechanism for effecting this result is illustrated in Figs. 10 to 12 hereof, as well as in the said Letters Patent 1,942,870. As therein explained, the said mechanism abovedescribed for maintaining open the switch 48 through the medium of the interior cam 8| is employed also to correct the count of the counter, through the medium of the before-mentioned sprocket wheel 85, loosely mounted on the shaft 88. When the roll 55 enters the cam opening 51, as before explained, the pivoting rod 45 is tilted therewith. An arm 888 that is fixed to the pivoting rod 45 is, therefore, tilted also, and its end 81| is thus brought against a wall 13 of a collar or disc 12.' 'I'he collar or disc 12 is loosely mounted upon a reduced hub 85 of the collar 54, so as to be free to rotate about the hub 85. The collar or disc 12 binds frictionally against the hub 85, and is normally, therefore, rotated with the collar 58. When the end I81| of the arm 888 engages the wall 13, however. the collar or disc 12 is prevented from rotating further.

The collar or disc 12 has also a gate 10 that normally is to one side of the lug 48, as shown in Fig. 12.A Under normal conditions, therefore, the pawl engages the lug 48, as before described, and the collar 58, with its sprocket wheel 85, and the collar or disc 12 rotate together with the collar 54.as a unit. When the end 81| of the arm 888 engages the wall 18, however, and the collar or disc 12 is stopped rotating, in conseouence, the further rotation of the collar 58 by the pawl 48 will soon carry the lug 48 to a position where the gate 18 overlies or covers the lug 48, as shown in Figs. 6 and 10. Upon reaching the wall 18 of the gate 18, the pawl 48, as shown in Fig. 10, will ride up the wall 18 and out of engagement with the lug 48, whereupon the shaft 44 will cease rotating and the counter will stop counting. The lug 48 will thus be left behind the gate 10, in the position of Fig. 10. So long as the gate 10 continuesto overlie the lug 48, the continuously rotating pawl 48 can not engage the lug 48, but rides idly over the gate 18, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 10 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870. The sprocket wheel is therefore stopped rotating further, the rotation of the shaft 44 is correspondingly stopped and the counter is not further actuated. The operation of the counter becomes thus interrupted during the switching out of a defective sheet, so that the number of sheets delivered into the lay-boy 4 and the indications of the counter are caused to tally.

When the switch 48 resumes its normal position, the sheets will again be led from the cutter I8 to the tapes |8 and 20 and, by them, to the lay-boy 4. I'he count should, therefore, again be resumed. 'I'his is effected by the arm 888 resuming its normal position, together with the switch 48. This is because both the switch 48 and the arm 88 are fixed to the same pivoting rod 45. The wall 18 becoming thus released from the restraining influence of the end 81| of the arm 388, the frictional binding of the collar 12 against the hub 85 will cause the collar 12 to resume its rotation about the axis of the shaft 88 together with the collar 54. The gate 18 will accordingly be moved away from the positions of Figs. 6 and 10 and into the positions of Figs. 5 and 9 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870.

Upon the gate 18 becoming displaced from the position of Figs. 6 and 10 into that of Figs. 5 and 9 of the said Letters Patent 1,942,870, the pawl 48, during its next journey around with the shaft 68, will again become pressed into engagement with the lug 48 by a spring 18. The pawl 48, continuing its rotation, will now again carry the sprocket 85 with it, and the latter will, through the sprocket chain 84 and the sprocket wheel 81, again cause rotation of the shaft 44 and actuation of the counter controlled thereby.

The gate 18 is shown provided with a wall 18 similar to the wall 18, and the wall 18 is formed upon a gate 11 similar to the gate 18. The lend 81| of the arm 888 may engage either the wall 18 or the wall 15, whichever happens to be nearer at the time that the switch 48 is actuated, and the other gate 18 or 11, as the case may be, will then be moved behind the lug 48 to disengage the pawl 48 therefrom.

Though the knife I8 operates continuously, therefore, the said loosely mounted sprocket wheel 85 is rotated only when the sheets 58 enter the lay-boy 4, so as to maintain the count accurate.

Cases occur where a sheet is too defective for stacking in the lay-boy 4, and yet too good to be discarded in the lay-boy In such cases, a second switch may be employed, between the switch 48 and the lay-boy 4, to deflect to a further lay-boy (not shown) such of the sheets of intermediate quality. Provision will then be made to correct further for the operation of the counter by employing a second sprocket like the sprocket 85, geared to the first-named sprocket 88 on the shaft 88. Both sprockets 88 will control the correction of the counter in the same manner, so that each deflection of a sheet from the lay-boy 4, whether into the lay-boy or the said other lay-boy (not shown) by the additional switch will result in like correction of the count.

The preferred jogging mechanism illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9 may be of the type illustrated and described in Letters Patent 2,261,972.

A sprocket 83, driven by a chain 84 from any available power source (not shown), operates a shaft 82 on which are mounted a bevel gear 18 and an eccentric connecting head 81. The eccentric connecting head 81 is connected by a rod 89 to a connecting head 89, fastened to a rock shaft |90. The rock shaft |90 is provided with jogger fingers |01 the upper ends of which oscillate or rock back and forth in the line of feed to engage the rear edges of the sheets deposited upon the top of the stack or pile in the lay-boy 4. One or more, usually several, of these endwise back-andforth jogging movements of the fingers |01 may take place against the rear edge of each sheet. By means of this jogging, the papers 56 are carefully pushed into the proper position in the layboy 4, with their heads in engagement with the front stops 25.

Stationary fingers I, alternately spaced with respect to the movable fingers |01, as illustrated more particularly in Fig. 14, and mounted rigidly upon a xed supporting rod 94, determine the position of the rear edge of the pile of papers in the lay-boy 4. The stationary ngers |I| are provided with bearings in which the rock shaft |90 is mounted loosely, to enable it to turn freely therein. As viewed in Fig. 13, the lower portions of the movable ngers |01 are somewhat concealed, in all positions of the latter, by the stationary fingers lll.

The bevel gear 18 meshes with another bevel gear |09 that is pinned to a shaft 96 that runs lengthwise of the machine or parallel to the flow of paper into the lay-boy. The rotation of this shaft 96 reciprocates connecting heads |2| and 98 that are cam-mounted on the shaft 96, their cams |08 and ||0 turning freely in the connecting heads 2| vand 98 to convert their rotary motion into a reciprocal motion, in bearings I|6, of rods H5 and ||1 to which the heads 98 and |2| are connected by pivoting studs II2 and |14 to bell cranks 99 and |00. As the cams |08 and ||0.in the connecting heads |2| and 98 are fastened to the shaft 96, with their high sections 180 degrees apart relative to each other, the rod |5 will travel to the left when the rod ||1 travels to the right, and vice versa. Riding on each of these two rods ||5 and ||1 is a T-shaped bracket H9. The brackets are secured to the respective rods |5 and |1 in any desired way, as by means of thumb screws ||8 and |20, at 90 degrees to the respective rods. The stem of the T runs back and forth, by means of rollers |22 rolling on an angle iron |05. Suspended from and attached to` each bracket I9 is a sheet steel side jogger blade |23. As the jogger casting I9 is caused to move with the rods I I5 and |1, the blades are caused to travel in and out, or toward and from each other. When moving toward each other, they engage the sides of the paper sheets at the top of the pile in the lay-boy 4 to jog the sheets sidewise, as the fingers |01 jog them endwise.

The end joggers 01 thus act upon the rear edges of the upper sheets 56 in the lay-boy, and the side yjoggers |23 close in upon the opposite sides of the said upper sheets, to prevent their spreading sidewise.

The pile or stack of papers in the lay-boy 4 is automatically lowered by degrees to maintain the top of the pile at substantially constant height, so as to enable the stream of overlapped sheets to enter the lay-boy freely, without hindrance by the accumulated sheets already in the pile. This may be effected in any desired way, as by the means disclosed in Lettersl Patent 1,545,912, issued July 14, 1925, to Charles B. Maxson.

In accordance with the present. invention, therefore, a unitary machine is provided for performing, in a single operation, the cutting of paper or other sheets of the exact size desired from a roll, sorting the sheets, stacking and jogging them in. the lay-boy 4, counting them, correcting the count to allow for the sheets deflected into the auxiliary lay-boy and tagging the sheets into reams. The sheets are fed to the stops |6| in the'form of an underlapped pile, preferably of two sheets. The top sheet of the pile is removed at greater speed, so as to expose thenext sheet thereunder. The operator is enabled to inspect the sheet at a time when the sheets is stationary. As the time of inspection may be nearly equal to the relatively large period of revolution of the cutter knife, if a cutter knife is employed, ample time is afforded for full and careful inspection, without eyestrain. The inspection of the successive top sheets may be effected at a time when these sheets are stationary, without any more eyestrain than is involved in successively turning the pages of a big book.

Owing to the construction of the cam 59 and its cooperating parts, and the consequent accurate timing of the switch 43 to deflect the particular sheet that is shown to be defective, the operator is not confronted with the necessity for exercising great care as to the time when he pulls upon the rod 29 to deflect such sheet or sheets as may turn out to be defective. He may pull upon the rod 29 at any time, in the assurance that the switch fingers 43 will not operate any sooner nor any later than is necessary to engage the head of the sheet to be deflected, at the proper time, and the switch will be accurately returned to its ineffective position, in time not to deflect the next-following sheet. If the operator should desire to deflect the next-following sheet also, this may be done by again pulling upon the rod 29, or he may continue to retain his hold upon the rod 29, as before explained.

A description of many portions of the machine an understanding of which is not essential to an understanding of the present invention has purposely been omitted and many parts of the machine have purposely not been illustrated in order not to detract attention from features of essential novelty. Fuller explanations of such portions of'the machine will be found in the Letters Patent above referred to. It will be understood that the features of novelty may be embodied in other machines and in machines o-f other types with the tail of the sheet, reducing the speed of each sheet when the tail thereof reaches the point, and moving the head of each sheet .out of the path at the point at a time when the tail of the next-preceding sheet is out of the path at the point.

2. A method of feeding sheets that comprises feeding successive sheets along a predetermined path at relatively high speed past a predetermined point, moving the tails of the sheets out of the path at the point, reducing the speed of each sheet when the tail thereof reaches the point, lapping the head of each sheet under the tail of the next-preceding sheet at the point, and supplying an air blast between the head of each sheet and the tail of the next-preceding sheet.

3. A method of feeding sheets that comprises feeding successive sheets along a predeterminedl path at relatively 4high speed past a predetermined point and, during the feeding of each sheet, continuously movingy out yof the path, at the point, successive portions of the sheet, beginning with the head of the sheet and ending with the tail of the sheet, reducing the speed of each sheet when the tail thereof reaches 4the point, moving the head of each sheet out-of the path at the point at a time when the tail of the next-preceding sheet is out of the path at the point, and supplying an air layer between the head of each sheet and the tail of the nextpreceding sheet.

4. A machine of the character described having, in combination, means .for feeding sheet material, means for cutting the material into sheets, means for feeding the sheets in the form of an underlapped pile with the head of each sheet disposed forward fn the line of feed of the sheets below it in the pile, a stop for stopping the top sheet of the pile, and means for actuating the stop periodically into and out of the path of feed of each top sheet of the pile in synchronism with the operation of the cutting means.

5. A machine of the character described having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, means for cutting the material into sheets, means for feeding the sheets, a stop in the path of feed of the sheets, means for actuating the stop out of and into the path of feed of the sheets, a switch for deflecting the sheets after they have passed the stop, means for actuating the switch, and means for operating the stop and the switch in synchronism with the cutting means.

6. A machine of the character described having, in combination, means for feeding sheets, means for raising the tail of each sheet, means cooperating with the feeding means for feeding the head of the next-following sheet between the first-named feeding means and the tail of the previously fed sheet, and means forinjecting an aix' blast between the said head and the said tail.

7. A machine of the character described having, in combination, means for feeding sheets, a stop f/or engaging the head of the sheet to stop the feed of the corresponding sheet, means for raising the tail of the stopped sheet, means cooperating with the feeding means for feeding the head of the next-following sheet under the tail of the stopped sheet, and means for injecting an air blast between the said head and the said tail.

8; A machine of the character described having, in combination, means for feeding successive sheets along a predetermined path at relatively high speed past a predetermined point, means operable during the feeding of each sheet for continuously moving out of the path, at the point, successive portions of the sheet, beginning with the head of the sheet and ending with the tail of the sheet, and means for reducing the speed of each sheet when the tail thereof reaches the point, the moving means being operable to move the head of each sheet out of thepathat the point at a time when the tail of the next preceding sheet is out of the path at the point.

9. A machine of the character described having, in combination, means for feeding successive sheets along a predetermined path at relatively high speed past a predetermined point, means operable during the feeding of each sheet for continuously moving out of the path, at the point,

successive portions of the sheet, beginning with the head of the sheet and ending with the tail of the sheet, means Afor reducing the speed of each sheet when the tail thereof reaches the point, the moving means being operable to move the head of each sheet out of the path at the point at a time when the tail of the next-preceding sheet is out of the path at the point, and means for injecting an air blast at the point. 10. A machine of the character described having, in combination, a tape for feeding sheets, a stop for stopping the sheets, and a roll positioned rearward of the stop in the line of feed at a distance somewhat less than the length of a sheet in order that it may raise the tail of the sheet at a time when it is engaged by the stop to permit the head of the next-following sheet to be fed in over the roll and under the said tail. 11. A machine of the character described having, in combination, means for feeding sheet material, means for cutting the material into sheets, means for feeding the sheets in the form of an underlapped pile, and a stop for stopping the top sheet of the pile. Y

12. A machine for feeding sheets having, in combination, means for raising the tail of each sheet, means for feeding the head of each sheet under the lraised tail of the next-previously-fed sheet, and means for injecting an air blast between the said head and the raised tail of the said next-previously-fed sheet during the feeding of the said head under the said raised tail of the said next-previously-fed sheet.

13. A machine for feeding sheets having, in combination, a stop for engaging the head of each sheet fed w stopthe sheet, means for raising the tail of the stopped sheet, means for feeding the head of the next-following sheet under the raised tail of the stopped sheet, and means for injecting an air blast between the said head and the said raised tail during the feeding of the said head under the said raised tail.

14. A method of feeding sheets successively that comprises raising the tail of each sheet, feeding the head of each sheet under the raised tail of the next-previously-fed sheet, and injecting an air blast between the said head and the said raised tail of the said next-previously-fed sheet during the feeding of the said head under the said raised tail of the said next-previously-fed sheet.

15. A method of feeding sheets successively that comprises engaging the head of each sheet fed to stop the sheet, raising the tail of each stopped sheet, feeding the head of the next-following sheet under the raised tail of the stopped sheet, and injecting an air blast between the said head and the said raised tail during the feeding of the said head under the said raised tail.

16. A method of feeding sheets of predetermined length that comprises feeding successive sheets along a predetermined path past a first point, engaging the heads of the sheets at a second point spaced from the first point in the path a distance substantially equal toor slightly less than the predetermined length to stop the sheets, raising the tail of each stopped sheet, feeding the head'of the next-followill Sheet under the raised tail of the stopped sheet ,and injecting an air blast between the said head and the said raised tail during the feeding 'of .the said head under the said raised tail.

17. A machine for feedingshe'ets of predetermined length having, in combination, means for feeding successive sheets aloniifga. predetermined path past a nrst point, means for engaging the' 1in. A machine for feeding nexible sheets censtituted of paper and the like having, in combina' tion, a flexible-sheet conveyor constituted of a plurality of tapes extending from one side to another side. upper and lower feedrolls disposed transversely of and in engagement with the conveyor, the upper feed roll being disposed above the conveyor, the lower feed roll being disposed below the conveyor, and means for advancing sheets at a downward incline from above and to the said one side toward the said other side to the feed rolls and the conveyor, the upper feed roll being disposed slightly to the said one side of the lower feed roll to provide a space between the feed rolls in which the feed rolls and the conveyor may bite the heads ofthe sheets as they aro advanced at the said downward incline to the feed rolls and the conveyor, whereby the heads of the sheets will pass under the upper feed roll and over the lower feed roll and between the feed rolls and the conveyor to enable the feed rolls and the conveyor to grip the heads of the sheets in order to feed the sheets toward the said other side, the lower feed roll being provided with a plurality of rings of greater diameter than that of the lower feed roll disposed in the spaces between the tapes of the conveyor.

19. A machine for feeding flexible sheets constituted of paper and the like having, in combination, a flexible-sheet conveyor constituted of a plurality of tapes extending from one side to another side, upper and lower feed rolls disposed transversely of and in engagement with the conveyor, the lupper feed roll being disposed above the conveyor, the lower feed roll being disposed below the conveyor, means for advancing sheets at a downward incline from above and to the said one side toward the said other side to the feed rolls and the conveyor, the upper feed roll being disposed slightly to the said one side of the lower feed roll to provide a space between the feed rolls in which the feed rolls and the conveyor may bite the heads of the sheets as they are advanced at the said downward incline to the feed rolls and the conveyor, whereby the heads of the sheets will pass under the upper feed roll and over the lower feed roll and between the feed rolls and the conveyor to enable the feed rolls and the conveyor to grip the heads of the sheets in order to feed the sheets toward the said other side, the lower feed roll being provided with a plurality of rings of greater diameter than that of the lower feed roll disposed in the spaces between the tapes of the conveyor. and a stop disposed at the said other side of the conveyor a distance substantially equal to or slightly less than the length of the sheets for engaging the heads of the sheets to stop the sheets with their tails raised above the conveyor in engagement with the rings.

LOUIS L. MATTHEWS. 

